Modern Stressors That Didn’t Exist “Back in the Day”

Life today comes with a whole new set of stressors that our parents and grandparents never had to deal with. Boomers and Gen X’ers have been weighing in on the stuff that makes modern life a little more… well, stressful.

Here are some highlights:

1. Cyber criminals. There are way more ways for scammers to get your personal info than there used to be. Remember when “identity theft” just meant someone copied your library card?
   
2. Social media. Between curating your posts, worrying about likes, and dodging cyber-bullying, it’s basically a part-time job.
   
3. Pocket cameras. Everyone has a phone with a camera now. Not everyone wants to be filmed while inhaling a poutine at 2 a.m.
   
4. Fake news. Sorting out what’s real versus what’s AI-generated is its own stress test.
   
5. Deepfakes. You never had to wonder if that video of your favourite celeb was real in 1987.
   
6. Shaving… everything. Enough said.
   
7. Botox and fillers. Back in the day, having thin lips wasn’t considered a felony.
   
8. Texting anxiety. Return the text now? Wait 3 hours? Pretend you didn’t see it? It’s a minefield.
   
9. Email overload. Some people panic at 100 unread emails. Others are living in chaos with 10,000+.
   
10. The word “literally.” Overused. Literally.

The Throwback Perspective

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Sure, stress looked different 30 years ago — mortgages, bills, and bosses still existed. But nobody was losing sleep over unread Gmail notifications or whether their TikTok made the algorithm happy.

Maybe that’s why so many people look back with nostalgia: fewer apps, fewer scams, and fewer cameras catching you in your sweatpants at Canadian Tire.